Worries of The Two
by AvatarMaster
Summary: Aang has been distant to Katara lately. Katara thinks he is tired of her


Summary: It's been 5 years after the war. Aang has been distant to Katara lately. Katara thinks he is tired of her.. Kataang Oneshot. R/R please! No flames.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.

* * *

**Worries of The Two**

Katara awoke to the sounds of birds chirping

Katara awoke to the sounds of birds chirping. Sunlight streamed through her window. And she did not even have to open her eyes to know that her husband would not be beside her.

Her husband. Her Aang.

She sighed and rolled over. She had the small satisfaction of being right; she was completely alone.

She had hardly seen Aang at all over the past two weeks after she told him that she is pregnant with his baby. He disappeared for hours at a time. He came to bed after her and woke up before her. He showed up for meals of course, but always excused himself quickly and disappeared for another few hours.

When Katara was with him, she had the feeling he was somewhere else. He would nod and pretend to listen to what she was saying, but Katara could see that his mind was not on her. He still kissed her, but usually only on the forehead and then very absently.

Katara considered the question that had been bothering her all night: Could Aang be tired of her?

Her stomach began to churn as she considered the possibility. They hadn't been married that long, but Aang had always been the adventurous type... Perhaps he found this life, _her life,_ boring! Maybe he regretted ever marrying her!

A salty tear rolled down her cheek at the very idea of Aang wishing hadn't married her.

"Be rational, Katara!" she told herself aloud. "You're letting your imagination run away with you! Of course Aang doesn't feel like that!"

But as she got up and dressed, she couldn't help thinking that if Aang didn't love her anymore, it wasn't even worth the trouble of getting out of bed in the morning.

"Aang!" Katara called as he brushed by without noticing her. It hurt that she had to call his name to get him to pay attention to her.

"Good morning, Katara," he said tiredly, kissing her on the forehead. She wrinkled her nose at the forehead-kiss. Noticing her reaction, he asked, "Is something wrong?"

I never see you anymore, she wanted to scream. Where do you go all day? And why won't you kiss me on the lips? But instead she just murmured, "No, I'm fine."

"Good." Aang said. Katara thought she saw a glimmer of relief in his eye, but she could have been mistaken. "Hey, I got to go." Aang continued. "I'll see you later." With a squeeze of her hand he was gone.

See me later? I doubt it. Katara thought sullenly.

* * *

Aang sat in his hideaway, surrounded by papers. Papers that Sokka sent him how to be a father. What fathers need to do and how to support a family. Maybe he is not ready to be a father!

Ever since Katara had told him that they are going to have "a bundle of their own," Aang had been frantically trying to figure out exactly how parenting works. He glanced around and try to clear his head. It's almost sunset.

He picked up another paper and started reading.

* * *

Up in her room, Katara raided her closet for something to wear. She thought, perhaps, if she looked different, Aang might take notice. Different, of course, meaning "nicer."

As she picked out her clothes, her mind wandered. Was Aang with Sokka? Or maybe just doing his avatar duties?

Or maybe he was taking some other girl for a ride on Appa.

That thought, no matter how absurd, made Katara brush a little harder. Finally, she tucked an orchid behind her ear and admired herself in the mirror.

She would knock his socks off, she decided approvingly.

* * *

Aang sighed as he pored through another paper that is hard to read. He wasn't cut out for this job. His behavior as an easygoing person will probably not be acceptable.

He skimmed through the papers again. He wouldn't let Katara be disappointed by him; he loved her!

He thought sadly that none of Katara's other males friends had been as naive and inexperienced as he was. Sometimes he wondered what he had done to deserve her.

* * *

"Momo!" Katara called out. Momo turned around and looked up at her expectantly. "Do you know where Aang is?" She had hit rock bottom. She had finally reached the point where she had to ask his lemur for advice.

Momo shook his head

"Ok. Thanks anyway." Katara said sadly.

Momo scrambled up onto her shoulder and patted her head while staring at her, sympathetically.

When he was finished, Momo revealed his wings and scampered in the other direction. Katara looked after him, then shook her head and headed up to their to sulk.

* * *

Momo tried to find Aang. He searched on top of the trees. Nope. He tried the next location: No Aang. Then the other one. Not there.

* * *

Katara sat on a chair, facing the window, staring at the stars. While sitting she mused the times when they are still young and traveling all over the world to search for Aang's bending masters. She remembered the times he blushed whenever she kisses him on the cheek, or how he always have a concerned look on his face and scared if anything happens to her. She bit her lip. She was sure he had loved her then. What had happened?

"Katara?"

She almost fell off the chair when she heard someone call her name. Someone who was standing right behind her. Aang.

He was here! He had come to her! Elated, Katara was unable to stop herself from whirling around and throwing her arms around his neck. Aang looked down at her, "Hey," he said tenderly. "It's funny. Momo said I should come home since it is dark outside."

Katara loosened her grip on his neck. _He came because __the lemur__ told him to!?_

Katara must have looked as stricken as she felt, because Aang said, "Katara? What's wrong?"

Katara let go of him and turned away, crossing her arms. "Where have you been?" she asked, wondering if she really wanted to know.

Aang tensed. He was ashamed to tell her that he had spent all that time studying things that came perfectly to others."Were you looking for me?" he finally ask.

"I supposed Momo told you that, too!" Katara snapped. She couldn't believe he was avoiding the question!

Aang sensed it wasn't the time to tell her that he had, in fact, heard it from Momo, so he stayed silent.

Katara turned to him, hurt shining in her eyes. "Where have you been?" she whispered.

Aang stared at the ground as he answered. "I was.. just studying" Once he had gotten that out, he took Katara's hands. "Katara, I was so afraid that you would look down on me. I don't know how to be a father! I don't know what to do, how to act. I never had a real family nor be able to experience it. It has always been Monk Gyatso that practically raised me.." he trailed off when Katara squeezed his hands. He looked up at her pleadingly, but saw her smiling at him.

"That's all?" she said in surprise. "That's what you've been doing all week?"

Aang wasn't sure she was taking him seriously. "I've been reading all sorts of books and papers that Sokka sent me, and I'm still not even sure what I'm supposed to do! There are so many things. I can barely remember them all!" he said dejectedly. His next words almost broke her heart. "I guess that's why you should have marry a guy that is at least older than you."

"Oh, Aang." Katara said softly. "Don't ever say that. I think you are perfect the way you are. You don't need Sokka to tell you what to do. And it doesn't need any mastering. You're loyal, and caring, and brave, and you'll be a fine father. Trust me on this one" She put her arms around him and leaned into him.

Katara was so relieved. She laughed into his chest, and he pulled away. "What?" he asked.

Katara looked up at him. "I thought you were tired of me!"

Aang's eyes widened, and he scooped her up into his arms. "No way! I love you!" He hug her again. Then he drew her close and kissed her. A real kiss, Katara thought. Her first non-forehead kiss in weeks.

"Wow," Aang said. "I may have been preoccupied, but I definitely missed that!" He set her down on the ground, but kept his arms around her waist.

"I missed it too." Katara told him. "I'm so proud of you." she said earnestly. "You'll make a fine dad. And I'll always be here for you. We're in this together, Aang. You were silly to worry."

Aang grinned. "Maybe. But you were even sillier!" He kissed her again. "Tired of you!" he scoffed. Then he looked at her as best he could without letting go of her. "Is that a new dress?" he asked.

Katara smiled and nodded. "I wore it to impress you." she confided.

Aang smiled too. "I'm impressed." he murmured.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Say it again." Katara requested.

"I love you."

As Katara stood on her toes to press her lips against his, she didn't think she had ever been happier.


End file.
